Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Montessori-Inspired Mitten Activities Using Free Printables

I LOVE The Mitten by Jan Brett! It's a great winter book for preschoolers even if you don't live in an area with snow.

I've used free printables today to create Montessori-inspired activities to go with The Mitten for preschoolers through first graders.
You'll find many more activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing.

Disclosure: This post contains Montessori Services affiliate links at no cost to you.

The Mitten Lacing, Sequencing Cards, and Putting Animals in the Mitten

For this activity, I used the Put the Animals in the Mitten (mittens PDFs) from Jan Brett and the sequencing cards from The Mitten Printables (kindergarten add-on) from Homeschool Creations. This would be perfect for a table featuring a few activities for The Mitten.

I put two activities on a large plastic tray from Montessori Services. The mitten printables could be used to create a lacing activity with the mitten left open at the top to put the animals in the mitten.

Before putting the animals in the mitten, the child could place the sequencing cards on a rug in the order from the story. I put the layout on a large hemmed work rug from Montessori Services.

After the sequencing cards are placed in the proper order, the child could put each of the animals in the mitten.

This activity uses water beads, which are fun for many ages. The Mitten Roll and Graph Game uses The Mitten Printables from 1+1+1=1. For roll and graph games, children can roll the dice and color in the graph, but you can also create a fun hands-on game that's perfect for fine-motor coordination. The Mitten Roll and Graph Game has a 1-5 version and a 1-10 version.

To make the cube, I printed out the cube on cardstock, cut it out, and put it together with glue before adding clear packing tape as a laminate and a way to seal the cube.

Water beads are wonderful for the pincer grasp. I wouldn't recommend using water beads for this particular activity for a child who has difficulty with fine-motor coordination and becomes frustrated easily, though. The water beads require fairly good fine-motor coordination skills and tend to move around easily. For children who have quite good coordination and would enjoy a challenge, I think the water beads are a fun addition.

I've read that it's good to keep the water beads completely covered in water so they don't get moldy. I added a bowl of water beads covered with water to the activity. If you have the cardstock graph laminated and leave a laminate edge, it's fine for it to get wet from the water beads.

his could be made into a cooperative game where each child takes a turn rolling the dice and placing a water bead on the graph for the appropriate animal. I like the cooperative aspect of having the children work together to add water beads to the graph until one of the animals in The Mitten reaches 10.

This could be made into a
cooperative game where each child takes a turn rolling the dice and
placing a water bead on the graph for the appropriate animal. I like the
cooperative aspect of having the children work together to add water
beads to the graph until one of the animals in The Mitten reaches 10.

Even though the game is cooperative, you can still use it to teach sportsmanship. At the end of the game, the children could shake hands with each other and say, "Good game!"

It's helpful for children to learn the social etiquette for games without the emotions involved in winning and losing. Hopefully, that will make it easier for them to remember to show good sportsmanship during an actual competitive game.

This activity uses a printable from The Mitten Printables (kindergarten add-on) from Homeschool Creations. I didn't add glue to the tray, although you would need to add glue if you don't keep your glue in a central location. It's a great cutting activity, gluing activity, simple reader, and activity focusing on positional words. It's easily adapted for children at various levels.

Animals in The Mitten Book-Making Tray

For this tray, I used The Mitten Unit and Lapbook Printables by Kelly Cooper and Ami on Homeschool Share. This is a fun cutting and gluing activity as well as a way to learn more about the animals in The Mitten.

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in Colorado Springs with her husband of 38 years and their cat of 12 years. She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

Love The Mitten, and your creative ideas! Makes me wish I were a classroom teacher - or at least a Grandma! Do you know "The Mitten Song"? It's one of my students' favorites. You can hear it at http://www.macaronisoup.com/songs/the-mitten-song.htm.. I also have a mitten flannelboard song on my Season Sings cd - hear "Each Mitten Has a Mate" here: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/misscarolestephens - it's Track #5. Thanks for keeping up the excellent posts - it's a pleasure to follow you!